The Runaway Bride - your thoughts?

[Andy Frankham]

Oh yes, the Gallifrey moment was superb. 'The planet is gone. But it's name lives on. Gallifrey!'

[Doctor Vendetta]

And dimensionaly transcendental pockets, finally some fan spec which has been confirmed!

[The Secretive Bus]

SPOILERS

Nothing really bad - but, equally, hardly anything that was good. That final scene with Tennant and Tate was absolutely first class, with performances and writing perfectly judged - one of the best scenes in New Who hands down. Donna started off fiendishly irritating but I rather liked her by the end of it. But otherwise it was horridly uninvolving. Lots of talking about nothing, with some bangs and flashes chucked in. The spider woman looked good - and the performance was OK - but didn't do anything bar standing still whilst snarling at people. Why did it want the bride anyway? Why was Donna fed this mystical fairy stuff for six months to be primed for some purpose, when the spider woman suddenly switched to saying the bloke would be just as good? Why didn't she try to nab him in the first place six months back instead of waiting to try and get Donna? Chuck in sixteen million "MY CHILDREN!!!" and it really was a pretty average episode; certainly not what I expected from a Christmas special written by RTD.

And, by Hades, that series 3 clips compilation looked dull as anything, didn't it?

[cullsoft]

Well... as a Christmas special, it worked for me in a sort of pantomimy way.

Sure, it was far from being a properly serious episode, and probably best that this wasn't part of the "regular season"... but then, as I see it, that's part of the point of it being a Christmas special - something light-hearted and entertaining for all the family. And that's why I enjoyed it. I'm not a fan of Catherine Tate from what I've seen of her "comedy" shows, but on the whole I liked her here - don't think she'd have worked as a long-term companion (not without getting annoying very quickly), but she did well for a one-off.

And yes, I liked the sudden pause in the music to show off the classic background noise as the Dalek loomed into view...

[Andrew Curnow]

I thought it was well-written for Donna, in that after starting off as a right cow, there were certain moments where suddenly I felt for her - although it was also funny, it was heartbreaking when she said, "You had the reception without me".

[Pip Madeley]

SPOILERS

Nothing really bad - but, equally, hardly anything that was good. That final scene with Tennant and Tate was absolutely first class, with performances and writing perfectly judged - one of the best scenes in New Who hands down. Donna started off fiendishly irritating but I rather liked her by the end of it. But otherwise it was horridly uninvolving. Lots of talking about nothing, with some bangs and flashes chucked in. The spider woman looked good - and the performance was OK - but didn't do anything bar standing still whilst snarling at people. Why did it want the bride anyway? Why was Donna fed this mystical fairy stuff for six months to be primed for some purpose, when the spider woman suddenly switched to saying the bloke would be just as good? Why didn't she try to nab him in the first place six months back instead of waiting to try and get Donna? Chuck in sixteen million "MY CHILDREN!!!" and it really was a pretty average episode; certainly not what I expected from a Christmas special written by RTD.

You've pretty much summed it up for me, David. Fine for Christmas Day viewing, with a few nice set-pieces and moments, but ultimately a poor plot which I just didn't care about... last year's Christmas special was much stronger, and I missed the Tyler family a lot.

[Larry]

well that's exactly what I want from my Chrristmas specials bit of a slapstick first 20 minutes or so but still a lot of fun picked up in the last half hour the prosthetics for the spider were fantastic..The TARDIS hurtling along the motorway chasing the taxi was a joy to watched and loved the mention of Gallifrey. Catherine Tate was fine and laughed out loud when she swung on the rope and crashed into the stairs landing on her back..

Again Tennent nailled the part spot on going through all the emotions like some one switching a light on and off again you got the feeling that this version of The Doctor will kill with out a 2nd thought and it the companion is his restraing factor.

THE trailers for series 3 again look fantastic for one moment the Sontarons were coming back and did think not those bloody Daleks again..

[Jason Thompson]

Not bad, good fun and all, but a bit lacking in something. I think one of the things that was lacking was that we never saw the threat. There are supposedly millions of these Racnoss things, but we only see the one (and an absurdly theatrical one at that) and never even a hint of the others. We're told there are loads down the big plughole, but we never see the slightest bit of one before the Doctor drains the Thames into it. It was also rather hard to keep a straight face while the Doctor assures us all that a set of bubble lamps you can get from Argos is actually a highly sophisticated set of equipment for producing these huon particles....

But still, a pleasant way to spend a Christmas evening. Preferred The Christmas Invasion though.

[Milky Tears]

He's dead and they had a choir doing the Emmerdale end theme. The announcer even sang along.



Back to that childish Doctor Who pap...

The Empress is worth a pop, but Tate's sodden hangers destroyed the climax for me.

[Stephen Morgan]

I thought it was great, who cares about the plot holes, we could go on about them forever and a day throughout the whole history of Who. This was great family entertainment for Christmas Day, it certainly lightened the mood after the doom and gloom of Eastenders, and ITV chiefs must have had a fit about losing out in the ratings as Corrie was placed directly after Dr. Who.
We enjoyed it, the thrills and spills of the TARDIS spinning about the motorway, the thrill of an (unseen) enemy threatening the Earth, some superb CGI, and a spider woman. A complete feast of an episode, something digestable after the excesses of Christmas lunch, and a chance to sit down for an hour as things begin to quieten down.
I can't fault this episode, and if the clips for series three are anything to go by we're in for another treat during the early part of the year.

[Andrew Curnow]

and laughed out loud when she swung on the rope and crashed into the stairs landing on her back

Oh yes, I'd forgotten that bit. We laughed a lot too!

[Allllie]

Loved every minute of it, the kids loved it, even my mum and stepdad loved it!

[Alex]

I really enjoyed it, and I'm one of those people who sometimes gets annoyed by plot holes! I think as it took place straight after Rose leaving, it needed that 20 or so minute actiony sequence, with the plot hurtling along at a great pace, and seeing the Tardis in a car chase made me oh so smiley.

I'm not a huge Catherine Tate fan, but half way through I noticed I'd stopped thinking about her as Tate, and as Donna instead. Admittedly she was annoying at first, but I thought Tate carried off the character changes really well. Sarah Parish's villain was delightfully OTT, and well, whilst a little of the ending was a bit on the silly side, I don't know, I just really really liked it, and overall I'd just give it a big thumbs up.

As for the S.3 trailer, it didn't get me as excited as last years one (probably due to the lack of K9!), but loads of it did look absolutely fantastic, though I'd have preferred not to know about the return of the Daleks quite so soon. But then I guess they appeal to the younger audience, so were no doubt due to make a reappearance at one point or another...

[Andrew Curnow]

Since they usually like to keep something up their sleeves, I'm wondering, given that we know about the Dalek(s) already, what other surprises are in store...

Martha J looked good too, thank goodness!!

[Dave Lewis]

The more I think about it, the more I think how desperately average it was. The Bus makes some extremely valid points and I can't really add anything to his words, except something Lissa said last night, "I wouldn't have watched anything else; I wouldn't ever want to watch it again".

That sums up how I feel more than anything.

[Anthony Williams]

re: the return of the Daleks

I suspect, from things that RTD has said, that they won't be in 2007's finale (would make a change!) They're rumoured to be in eps 4 and 5.

Ant x

[Andrew Curnow]

What's rather nice today is that I keep remembering little bits & pieces which I'd 'forgotten' - Little Miss loved the two kids in the back of the car watching the 'chase' scene; we all loved the segue scene, with the Doctor and Donna laughing; and I think we were all rather impressed by the Rachnoss spaceship too. And I do believe the line, "There's a draught with these doors open" (or whatever) made Zel laugh.

[Pip Madeley]

The more I think about it, the more I think how desperately average it was. The Bus makes some extremely valid points and I can't really add anything to his words, except something Lissa said last night, "I wouldn't have watched anything else; I wouldn't ever want to watch it again".

That sums up how I feel more than anything.

I feel the same, Dave. As a piece of Christmas Day entertainment it worked, the kids would've enjoyed it etc, but as a Doctor Who episode I thought it was one of the weakest we've had since the series came back.

[Anthony Williams]

ok... what i liked:

the proper logo appearing in the title sequence!
the christmas spirit of the story
the darker Tenth Doctor
the overly camp Empress of Rachnoss!
the Torchwood lab
the return of the Santas and the Christmas tree
Catherine Tate
the series 3 trailer
the fact that Rose wasn't in it (other than a couple of cut-scenes)
the mention of Gallifrey
the idea of the Rachnoss being from the "dark time"

what i didn't like:

why the hell were Torchwood manufacturing Huon particles?
the fact we never see the Empress' children at all
the dodgy science behind the draining of the Thames
i miss Jackie and Mickey!
the damn baggage left behind by Rose. it's not needed - gah!

can we just get Mickey and Jackie back as companions?

Ant x

[Trudi G]

I enjoyed it - it was fun and there were lots of comedy moments in it. I thought Catherine Tate was really good in it, and would've made a great assistant.
I wasn't expecting it to be the best Who ever - just a bit of fun and entertainment for everyone on Christmas day, and for me, it fulfilled the criteria!

[The Secretive Bus]

See, I have this thing with Doctor Who: if the plot is filled with holes but I'm still entertained, then fine. If I don't feel invested in what's happening then my mind will start wandering and it'll focus on the plot. I have a strict rule that I'll only criticise a plot problem if I found myself thinking about it at the time. That's why I still love The End of the World, despite the - on reflection - ridiculous spinning fan bit at the end, because at the time it was fun and entertaining and I didn't find myself noticing how absurd it was.

But with The Runaway Bride it seemed that an awful lot of time was spent with Tennant and Tate standing around and talking about the plot. Or sciency things. And then the spiderwoman did nothing but discuss her backstory and her plan. It was just lots of exposition, thus drawing immediate attention to the plot which, if thought about for a few seconds, fell apart ("If a key is lost then another must be cut!" - er, what? Why didn't you use him six months ago?). Apart from the chase and some good dialogue scattered throughout I couldn't really see what was so "fun" about the episode. The Christmas Invasion had a wafer-thin plot but had the interest surrounding the new Doctor to mask its problems. The Runaway Bride needed some extra kicks to keep it going - and surely an alien who became the centre of the planet is a bit heavy for a Christmas special? Couldn't it have been an alien who, say, was having its own wedding and spirited up Donna to stick on top of its almighty wedding cake? Yeah, it's silly, but it's fun (even if I do say so myself, having taken 10 seconds to think it up) and I can imagine RTD having a ball with it. Alien marriage customs, still some room for an "emotional journey", etc. Instead RTD came up with some convoluted explanation about alien particles and evils from the dawn of time and all that jazz. The episode just never grabbed me.

[Alex]

("If a key is lost then another must be cut!" - er, what? Why didn't you use him six months ago?)

Wasn't there a throwaway line about how she'd perfected the solution now and so could use him really quickly now?

[Carol Baynes]

Some of you forget why we liked Dr. Who in the first place. I was at next to my nephew and we liked it! I probably liked it more because of him!

It was a weak plot, no doubt about it, and a bit convoluted, but there were moments of great dialogue and high-five inducing villian-arse kicking wonder.

[Captain Tancredi]

Quite nicely judged, I thought- especially when you consider from the DWM specials that it's one of the back burner ideas which have been floating around for a while waiting for their moment. I don't know much of Catherine Tate's other stuff but having a right gobby cow as a companion made for a nice change. The spider empress thingy was also suitably impressive and shot well to give the impression of constant movement.

Also get the impression that David Tennant has had a while to think more about his Doctor and where he's going, which helped.

[duncan]

It was OK. I preferred last years The Christmas Invasion to be honest. Donna's constant shouting and moaning started to grate and I am really glad she decided not to go with the Doctor at the end. Although I liked that line "Thanks fopr nothing SPaceman. See you in court!" Sarah Parish on the other hand was magical as The Empress of Racnoss. She acted the part magnificently IMHO and considering she was a mixture of prosethtics and model and no CGI, she also looked brilliant.

A couple things grated on me, and this contains SPOILERS if you haven;t seen it.












1. Since when can you open up the doors in mid-flight and NOT be sucked out in to space? Didn't the 2nd Doctor open the doors to get rid of an enemy?

2. Since when did the TARDIS shoot up into the sky like a firework? I have seen it disaapear in a puff of smoke in The Brain of Morbius before but never liike that!

All in all, it was OK, but nothing special. I hope the show doesn't suffer from the absence of Rose. The clips of series three looked quite good and it confirmed the return of an old but recently familiar enemy too.